Letter from the Editor - michaelrathbun.org

1 Letter from the Editor As I write this in late December, some 490 of our 583 members of 1991 have renewed their membership in the Association. We will have to reach 500 to finance this year's Historians, and I am confident we will exceed that figure. Our 1991 financial report is printed in this issue, and you will see that we ended the year with a deficit for the first time-$146 in the red. Raising the dues to $18 should enable us to end 1992 with a surplus. With this issue, we are using a somewhat lighter paper stock for the Historian so that we can get the postage per magazine down to 52 cents, rather than the 75 cents we have been paying. Our obituary section is large this month, with many members listed. Willard and Jean Rathbun and his sister Helen Miltimore were killed in that terri-ble highway disaster in California (see story). We also lost Keith Rathbone, a long-time, active member, Oliver Rathbun, our oldest member at age 95, and Wilfred Rathbun, Caroline Stelzner and Harold W.

2 Rathbun. Our sympathy to all their families. You will notice a new feature in this Historian. At the right-hand top of each page is the line "Rathbun-Rathbone-Rathburn Family Historian." This is being done at the suggestion of a new member, Douglas E. Henne. He wrote me recently and offered some early 2 The Rathbun-Rathbone-Rathburn Family Historian is published quarterly by the Rathbun Family Association at 11308 Popes Head Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030. (703) 278-8512 Frank H. Rathbun Editor & Publisher ISSN 0737-7711 family data which someone had sent him "from some unidentified Rathbun newsletter." (!) When I informed him that the information came from our Historian, Doug explained that he had received only xerox copies of several pages, with no indication of the source. From now on, when pages of our Historian are copied, the name of our magazine will be included. Thank you, Doug.

3 Bud Parfitt's Letter to President Bush regarding a stamp to honor Captain John Peck Rathbun brought only another pro forma response from some White House bureaucrat. No one in the upper levels of the Postal Service or White House is the least interested. A recent news story announced that near-ly 200 memorial stamps will be issued this year-including one to honor Elvis Presley! Last year, they issued stamps to honor Laurel and Hardy, and the ven-triloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. It is a sad commentary on our national leaders' regard for the early heroes who fought (and in Rathbun's case, died) to create the United States of America. Bud is undeterred and plans to keep trying! Several members wrote me about the article on Courtney Campbell in our last issue, and commented that a parkway near Tampa, Florida, had been named in his honor. I did some checking, and learned that the road was named for another Courtney Campbell, a Florida politician.

4 My appeal in the last issue for dona-tions to the Block Island Lighthouse fund brought in another $932, meaning that our members contributed a total of $1832 to that worthy cause. A list of the most recent contributors appears elsewhere in this issue, and has been sent to Block Island with a check. My thanks to you all. I received a warm Letter of thanks from our member, Josephine Dugan, who lives on Block Island and is on the Lighthouse Foundation's board of directors. "Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generous check of nine hundred dollars from the members of the Rathbun Family Association and your association's funds. Every con-tribution made our fund-raising drive successful. Thanks again .. Block Island is Rathbun territory, and we abound in Rathbun descendants." We have learned of another Rathbun who served as a mayor. Glen Chelsea Rathbun (1914-1989) served at least one term as mayor of Fort Pierre, He was also sheriff for some time.

5 Glen was the son of Chelsea9 Rathbun (HenryS William7 Gideon6 JobS Gideon4 John3-2-1). Our thanks to Dorothy Mueller. Hazel and I send our sincere thanks to all of you who sent us Christmas greetings, and helped brighten our Christmas holidays. rf}a4k-Rathbun-Rathbone-Rathburn Family Historian Three Association Members Killed in California Tragedy Three members of our Association were among the 17 persons killed in a massive traffic pileup the day after Thanksgiving in California. It was described as the worst multiple-vehicle accident in the nation's history. The three victims were Willard Glasgo Rathbun, 68; his wife Jean, 69, and Willard's sister Helen (Rathbun) Miltimore, 70. Helen's daughter, Anne Miltimore, 44, was among some 150 persons who were injured. She was in critical condition for several days, but is now recovering. Willard and Helen were children of Willards Rathbun (John7-6 Alfred5 Job4 Benjamin3 Joseph2 John 1).

6 The Rathbuns and Miltimores had just completed a 1 O-day visit in Orange County with the Rathbuns' daughter, Shirley Schweinberg. After celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday there, they left the next morning for home in the San Francisco area. The accident occurred about 2:30 , when a sudden windstorm blew a cloud of dust over Interstate Route 5 near Coalinga, south of Los Banos. A severe drought in the area had left the soil extremely dry. Unable to see more than a few feet ahead, drivers slowed to a crawl, and many tried to pull off onto the road shoulder. Dozens of minor crashes en-sued, and other cars and trucks began plowing into the stalled vehicles. Within minutes, nearly 100 cars and 11 big trucks were involved in a series of pileups stretching for nearly a mile along the highway. One truck driver mahaged to pull his 18-wheeler onto the shoulder, only to have five cars crash into his rig.

7 Similar chain collisions occurred over and over. Several cars and trucks burst into flame, adding dense smoke to the dust-laden air. Many motorists abandoned their autos and fled into nearby fields in panic. The highway was turned into a Willard and Jean Rathbun, California crash victims. nightmarish inferno. Crushed and bat-tered vehicles littered the traffic lanes and shoulders; dead and wounded per-sons were strewn over the roadway, and screams of pain and terror filled the swirling, smoky dusty air. Police were on the scene within five minutes, and reported that cars were still crashing into one another even after they arrived. A 100-mile section of the road was eventually closed to traffic, as police and ambulance drivers worked frantically to get the surviving victims to hospitals and haul away the wreckage. Some 15 of the vehicles had been burned down to their metal frames.

8 The Rathbuns' son John, who had been waiting for his parents to return that afternoon, became worried when they failed to appear on time. When he heard of the accident on radio reports, he began making frantic telephone calls to police and hospitals in the area, but could get no information. Then, watching evening television footage of the scene, he spotted his parents' car. " It was behind a big rig .. The front was bashed in and the side was wrecked," he told a reporter. John Rathbun still hoped his parents might have survived but at 4 the next morning he was notified that they and Mrs. Miltimore were among the dead. Willard, Jean and Helen were active members of our Association, and had attended our national reunion in Springfield, Illinois, last July. Helen and her sister Joyce Marlow had attended our 1989 Rhode Island reunion, and from there they went to visit a niece in South Carolina.

9 They ar-rived as Hurricane Hugo was descend-ing on the area, and left just before that devastating storm hit. A month later, the (continued on page 9) 3 Rathbun-Rathbone-Rathburn Family Historian Old Letters Reveal Details of Elijah Rathbone's Life This is the story of Elijah Rathbone, a most interesting early cousin, whose descendants have preserved many of his letters, enabling us to gain considerable insight into his life, his per-sonality and his activities. Elijah Rathbone was born April 24, 1792, in Colchester, Conn., the youngest of four brothers who im-migrated to the New York frontier in the early 1800s and became prominent social, business, financial and military leaders. They were the sons of Moses5 Rathbone (Joshua4 Jonathan3 John2-1) and his wife, Olive Ransom. Moses and Olive had five sons who survived-Amasa, Ransom, Israel, John and Elijah. Elijah's twin brother, Elias, died at the age of 10 months.

10 Amasa remained in Connecticut, but the other four surviving sons "went west" as youny men. Ransom settled in Oxford, Chenango County, , built a paper mill and became an influential citizen. He was active in the local militia and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. Late in life, he moved further west to Steuben County, and founded the town of Rathboneville. W9 are planning a later story on his life. Israel went first to Niagara County, , and went into business in the village of Buffalo. He went bankrupt in 1818 and was arrested for non-payment of debts. His possessions were seized to payoff his creditors. He then moved to Leroy, Genessee County, where he became a successful banker. He too joined the militia, and became a major. John moved first to Oxford with his brother Ransom, then settled about 1814 at the nearby village of Greene, where he opened a general store.